Friday, January 23, 2009

For now, I am enjoying the cocoon-like warmth of our house as we are surrounded by fluffy white stuff.

one of my beloved dogs, Lily, quite enjoys the snow

silly girl

***Stay Tuned for Exciting Artsy News - Coming Soon***We've been busy in our studios...so many new things happening this year!There has been much creating, planning new special products for our store, writing articles, reading good books, finalizing our show & teaching events for the year, etc. We have much to share and I am bursting with delight & excitement.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Violinist in the Metro --- Wash, DCA man sat at a metro station in Washington, DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.

When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

without fail, every year, I find myself positively ravenous for art and inspiration

when the tree and ornaments have been put away, the holiday guests are gone and the fresh new year has arrivedI take a deep breath, put on a new pair of comfy slippers, snuggle up with my dogs and devour every art, decorating and gardening book or magazine I can get my hands on. I literally stuff myself full of eye candy like a greedy child.

When I've finished every one cover to cover...my eyes bleary, my mind racing with inspiration and anticipation...I begin a fresh journal for the new year jotting down my ideas and thoughts with little sketches and doodles

A few years ago I used to feel somewhat guilty in partaking in this yearly ritual - was I being selfish and downright gluttonous spending so much time with my muse, gleefully flipping pages? But I've realized over the years that...